EOS 7D Magic Lantern Alpha version released!

Shortly after the Magic Lantern crew managed to unlock the EOS 7D’s features, the first version was released unlocking a lot of the functionality Magic Lantern has to offer to its users!

Alpha software released

The first version is out! It was primarily tested on one 7D, and a few days on three other 7D’s. Lots of photos and video was created during the test period (over 1.000 photos and GB’s of video). No crashes or strange behavior were observed, so the crew decided to release this firmware as an alpha release. Use at your own risk!

First look at the Magic Lantern firmware extension for the Canon EOS 7D

How it is installed

The alpha release will not make any changes to the in-camera permanent memory, nor will it change so-called “properties”(persistent camera settings). This means you will be able to remove the Magic Lantern firmware extension without any alteration to your 7D. The downside is, that some functions will not work (like HDR photos and videos, bulb ramping). Features that do not work yet have been disabled in this alpha version.

Key Features

This is the list of key features currently working in this alpha release:

Audio meters while recording

Zebras

Focus peaking

Magic Zooom (via half-shutter, or focus ring)

Cropmarks, Ghost image

Spotmeter

False color

Histogram, Waveform

Vectorscope

Movie logging

Movie auto stop

Trap focus

LiveView settings (brightness, contrast…)

Level indicator

Image review tweaks (quick zoom)

and a lot more

This all sounds great, I got to get this installed soon 🙂

Known issues

As this is an alpha release, there are some issues that are known to be in there. This is the list up till now:

When using trap focus, opening card door won’t shut down the camera. Simply power off using power switch.

Formatting the card will also remove Magic Lantern files.

You have to reload Magic Lantern every time you use it.

No dramatic issues, especially since this release is only an alpha release.